Griffith
Hawk of Darkness Hawk of Light White Hawk King of Longing The Absolute King of Midland The Savior of Men |manga debut= Chapter L0 Golden Age 4 |anime debut= (1997 Anime) Episode 2 Band of the Hawk (2016 Anime) Episode 1 The Dragonslayer |movies debut= Golden Age Arc I Egg of the Supreme Ruler |japanese voice= Takahiro Sakurai (2016 Anime/Movies) Ayako Takeuchi (Child, Movies) (1997 Anime) Minami Takayama (Child, 1997 Anime) |english voice= Kevin T. Collins Barbara Goodson (child) |gender= Male |eyes= Blue |hair= White |species= God Hand Human (formerly) |status= Alive |affiliation= Neo Band of the Hawk Falconia God Hand |previous affiliation= Band of the Hawk Midland |occupation= Ruler of Falconia Leader of the Neo Band of the Hawk Member of the God Hand |previous occupation=Leader of the Band of the Hawk White Phoenix General (Revoked) Mercenary |relatives= Demon Child (host body) |image gallery= yes |height = 6'1" |weight = 165lbs |age = 17 (Beginning of the Golden Age Arc) 20 (End of Golden Age Arc) 22+ (Black Swordsman Arc & beyond) }} is the main antagonist of Berserk. He is the founder and leader of the mercenary groups Band of the Hawk and Neo Band of the Hawk, the ruler of the city of Falconia and the fifth member of the God Hand; known as . Appearance Band of the Hawk Griffith from Berserk Musou.jpg|Griffith's appearance for the Golden Age arc. Neo Band of the Hawk Griffith from Berserk Musou.jpg|Griffith's appearance since the Falcon of the Millennium Empire Arc Griffith is of average height, possesses an athletic muscular build, and a somewhat pale skin tone. He has long curly white hair (often seen straight in the anime) and blue eyes. He is noted to be a very beautiful man, and has feminine features that many have commented surpass that of women's, while some can hardly tell he is a man. After regaining physical form, Griffith appears the same though his eyes now have slit pupils to reflect his true nature as one of the God Hand. In battle, Griffith wears silvery-white armor with his iconic hawk-beak helmet. Personality Griffith has long been driven by a desire to fulfill his dream of ruling a kingdom of his own, building his very life for that purpose willing to sacrifice anything and anyone to achieve it. From birth he had always "known the way up", his egotism exacerbated by his charisma which has an alluring effect on those around him. But another aspect of Griffith is that he could not cope well with losing others, as seen when after the death of a child soldier who was among his first followers. It deeply affected Griffith to the point that he prostituted himself to Gennon for the funding to prevent further needless casualties among his men. But while experience deeply traumatized Griffith to the point of isolating himself from his comrades, he subconsciously knew the risks and keep going regardless. Although he denied having ever considered his allies as friends, Griffith considered Guts to be his dear friend rather than a pawn in his goals. These feelings border on passion to the point that Griffith would lay his own life to protect Guts while considering him the only person to even made him forget his dream. When Guts left the Hawks, deeply distressed by Guts' acting on his own dream, it broke Griffith as he fell into a depression which led to a downward spiral that results with his body broken beyond repair. Griffith even became jealous of Guts and Casca's romance while in despair that he could not fulfill his dream with his body mutilated beyond functionality. When the God Hand appear before Griffith and present him with a reflection of his mind, he accepts his true self and the consequences needed to fulfill his dream while invoking the Eclipse. After his transformation into Femto, Griffith completely discarded his moralities while now solely existing to fulfill his dream along with humanity's collective will. Griffith displayed great cruelty once becoming Femto, his first act being that he raped Casca in front of Guts who was forced to watch while being held down by the Apostles. Whenever Griffith was aware of this or not, this led to the mutation in Guts' and Casca's unborn child who would later survive as Griffith's corporeal body. While now aloof and viewing humanity from a deterministic perspective with neither fear nor bewilderment, Griffith's ability to empathize since his God Hand status is debatable; when he sees Guts on the Hill of Swords, he does so in order to determine whether or not anything will "sway his heart", something that he would not consider doing if he knew for sure that he no longer felt anything for Guts or those he sacrificed. During Guts' second battle with Zodd, Griffith, his heart racing, shields Casca from a cascade of boulders; he justifies the act by claiming it was the residual feelings of the demon child affecting him, though this could be interpreted as denial. Abilities Griffith's greatest strength is his uncanny charisma to induce submission in others just by being around them. The sight of him and the sound of his voice are enough to bend anyone's will and turn them into loyal servants, ready to die at his command. History As a child of humble-birth meant to someday rule a kingdom of his own, he received a crimson Behelit from a old woman. Soon after, Griffith formed the Band of the Hawk, alongside the miner Pippin, former bandit Corkus, tumbler Judeau, and 12-year old Casca whom he saved from her would-be rapists. Griffith's big break came when he and his group were enlisted into the service of Chuder noble Gennon, subjecting himself to sleep with the deviant for a large amount of his wealth to ensure his soldiers' survival in the battles to come. Golden Age Arc Years later, while defending a fort, Griffith became interested in the mercenary Guts, who killed the famous grey knight Bazuso. After a failed ambush on Guts, Griffith stabbed him near the heart to incapacitate him. Griffith later challenged Guts to a one-on-one duel and won, winning his servitude among the Band of the Hawk. After the Band of the Hawk defeated the Black Sheep Iron Spear Knight army, they are enlisted by Midland for its war against Chudor. During a siege, the Hawks encountered The Immortal Nosferatu Zodd, who noticed Griffith's Behelit and cryptically warned Guts of its significance in his doom. Griffith's gradual rise in Midland status was ill-received by the noblemen. General Julius sent an assassin equipped with a crossbow and a bolt dipped in expensive poison. The assassination attempt failed, as the bolt was blocked by Griffith's Behelit. Griffith retaliated by sending Guts to assassinate Julius with instructions to leave no witnesses alive. Later on, Griffith discussed his ideals with Princess Charlotte, saying that he considered equals to be friends. Having overheard the discussion, Guts decided to leave the Band of the Hawk, prompting Griffith to challenge him to a critical duel. Having lost the duel, Griffith fell to his knees in despair and was forced to allow Guts to depart. Soon after the ordeal, Griffith slept with Charlotte in a lapse of judgement, resulting in his imprisonment within the Tower of Rebirth by the King of Midland. When lectured, Griffith replied by asking if the King lusted after his own daughter. Outraged, the King lashed out at him and ordered for Griffith to be tortured endlessly. By the time Guts and surviving members of the Band of the Hawk rescued him a year later, Griffith had been rendered mute and immobile; his tongue had been cut off along with all his skin and muscles. When Griffith fled by carriage and tried to end his life upon realizing that he can no longer fulfill his dream in his ruined state, he inadvertently triggered his Behelit, which he retrieved in the river where he fell. Griffith, the Band of the Hawk, and the gathered Apostles were transported to an Interstice where the God Hand manifested to welcome Griffith. Griffith was given the choice to be reborn as the last of the God Hand and continue his dream, at the cost of the lives of all his comrades. Griffith accepted the offer and appeared before the power behind the God Hand, as the Band of the Hawk was slaughtered by monsters. Having been told that everything he went through had been leading up to this moment while given an understanding of the inner workings of human nature, Griffith accepted his fate to become a king and began to create his ideal spiritual body. By the time Guts and Casca were the last ones alive, Griffith emerged from his metamorphosis. Reborn as Femto, he then proceeded to rape Casca. Guts, enraged, tore his arm off and tried to strike at Femto, only to be pinned down and forced to watch. Fortunately, the Skull Knight saved Guts and Casca from certain doom. However, they were both severely traumatized; Casca lost her memory and became mentally regressed. In addition to that, Femto's seed mutated Casca and Guts' unborn child into a deformed creature. Guts swore vengeance on Griffith, saying that he would never forgive him for what he had done. Black Swordsman Arc Because of Griffith's status as one of the God Hand, he was no longer of the physical realm and originally could only temporarily manifest through mediums such as corpses or when a Behelit was activated. Guts did not know this fact as he spent two years hunting Apostles to find the God Hand. Eventually, after fatally wounding the Count, Guts would cross paths with Griffith when the Count summoned the God Hand to give him new life. After being summoned, Griffith easily defeats Guts since he has learned to master his gravity-manipulating powers along with his very presence causing Guts to lose a large amount of blood from his Brand of Sacrifice. Griffith points out to the Count that he only needs to sacrifice Theresia while warning him to choose before the Abyss claims him. As the Count's soul is consumed by the Abyss, Griffith looks down at Guts before the swordsman, Puck and Theresia are returned to the physical world. Conviction Arc Soon after siring the Egg-Shaped Apostle to carry out a special task, the God Hand began to orchestrate a series of events from a plague to the Kushan invasion of the Midland by Ganishka while the maddened King of Midland spent his final hours having his army search for Griffith. The God Hand placed a dream inside everyone of the coming of what the Holy See Religious Order deemed their savior: The Hawk of Light. But what no one realized besides the Skull Knight and Nosferatu Zodd, (the latter summoned to the location by Griffith after recruiting him in a dream by cutting off his horn), was that the refugees were all being lead to the city of St. Albion to serve in a mass sacrifice known as the Incarnation Ceremony that would reconstitute Griffith into the physical realm. Though Guts was told of the significance of the visions, he was more focused on protecting Casca despite the fact they both played a role in gathering the vast amount of restless spirits that consumed the living before converging towards the Egg-Shaped Apostle as he offered his life to complete the ritual. Prior to the conclusion, the Egg-Shaped Apostle swallowed the Demon Child while climbing up the crumbling Tower of Conviction to enact the Incarnation Ceremony. As the Egg-Shaped Apostle reached the top and summoned the restless spirits of all who have died in St. Albion to him, the demon child's body fully developed into a human-like form before rapidly maturing into a vessel for Griffith to fully regain his physical presence. Griffith then emerges from the Egg Apostle's body, killing the Apostle as the tower is completely destroyed. Griffith would make his presence known at daybreak, naked while embracing the warmth of the sun as Guts and Casca see him to the former's shock and mixed feelings. When Silat and his forces were sent to capture him on orders from Ganishka, Griffith flies off on Zodd's back when he arrives. Falcon of the Millenium Empire Arc thumb|right Later explaining that he left St. Albion as he felt it was not an ideal place for a reunion for the surviving members of the Band of Hawks, Griffith meets Guts again on the Hill of Swords while meeting with Rickert to offer the boy a chance in aiding him in his dream once more. While Griffith felt no remorse seeing the grave markers from those he sacrificed, he realized the Demon Child's influence made him concerned for Casca's wellbeing during Guts' fight with Zodd as he orders the Apostle to cease when they leave to enact his destiny. As Guts begins his journey to Elfhelm with a fellowship, Griffith has begun to orchestrate becoming Midland's sole military leader through a new Band of the Hawk with Zodd and other numerous Apostles, along with human members like Sonia and Mule Wolflame. After leading his army to force Ganishka and his forces back to Windham, Griffith cements his right to lead by revealing his betrothal to Charlotte after rescuing her from Ganshika's custody while the Holy See's Pontiff confirms him the Hawk of Light and ordains the union. thumb|left When Ganshika transcended his existence as an Apostle by entering the Man-Made Behelit and offering his forces in exchange, Griffith has his forces fight off the emperor's familiars while he rides Zodd to the core of the giant where Ganshika's physical body is. As he draws near Ganshika, Griffith assumes his Femto form as the Skull Knight attempts to strike him from behind with his Sword of Actuation. But Griffith reveals he was hoping for the Skull Knight's appearance and uses his power to redirect the dimensional-ripping slash from his would-be assassin's sword at Ganshika's human face. This causes a chain reaction with Ganshika's god form that results in the World Transformation with the entire world now in a global Interstice with Astral creatures now fully manifested in the physical world. Griffith also used the event to create his city of Falconia, a utopian society that curbs the Apostles' bloodlust with gladiatorial combat so they can serve as humanity's protectors from the monsters now lurking outside Falconia's walls. Fantasia Arc When learning that Rickert had come to Falconia, Griffith welcomes the youth when he comes to his palace and once more makes the offer. But Rickert, having now learned the truth of the Eclipse while being conflicted about the good that his former leader has done since Falconia's creation, slaps Griffith for asking him again. While Rickert could not truly hate him, the youth tells Griffith that he is a follower of the man he once was and the original Band of the Hawk. Griffith stops his guards, allowing Rickert to leave the palace while reassuring those present that it was a simple rejection. But weeks later, when the youth resolved to leave Falconia, Rickert finds himself being targeted by Raksas and believes that Griffith sent the Apostle to assassinate him out of retaliation. Trivia *Griffith is an Anglicized form of the Welsh name "Gruffudd". A variation of the name is "Griffin", playing in Griffith's avian theme. *Griffith has many similarities with the historical figure , who was a famous English mercancery in the 14th century. Hawkwaood served in the English army during the (on which the One Hundred Year War was based), just as Griffith did and both men were later knighted for their service. Completing the inspiration even further is the fact that Hawkwood would later go on to found his own mercenary band, which is Italian translates to "Company of the White Falcon". *Griffith is the only human character that has defeated Guts in combat. *Dark Sun Gwyndolin from has an uncanny resemblance to Griffith. He has an effeminate appearance and traits similar to Griffith. *Griffith is the exact opposite of Guts. Griffith is of average height, thin, has long white hair, no physical scars and wields an elegant sabre. Guts is tall muscular warrior with short black hair and a body full of scars who wields a massive sword. Griffith wears white armour and has a much more refined style resembling fencing. Guts wears tattered black clothing and, though incredibly skilled, fights like a barbarian winning by any means necessary. In addition they usually have the exact opposite effect on everyone they meet. Most people are naturally drawn to Griffith upon first meeting him and would die for him without hesitation whereas Guts is usually feared and detested by just about everyone he comes across until they get to know him. Guts unhesitatingly chooses to battle his way through enemies. Griffith refrains from excessive participation in combat, preferring to manipulate anyone in his way. Griffith is graceful and has noble bearing all things associated with a traditional hero despite actually being a cruel savage villain (seen most clearly as Femto). Guts is cold and brutal, often associated with an archetypal villain (often being mistaken for a demon) but is actually a deeply heroic and kind person. *Griffith is the only character with pure white hair. *Griffith's God Hand name: '''Femto, '''is the mathematical prefix for 1/1,000,000,000,000,000. That is one quadrillionth, or one millionth of one billionth of the measurement unit this prefix is used for (a Femtosecond is one quadrillionth of a second, a Femtometer is one quadrilionth of a meter, etc). Site Navigation de:Griffith es:Griffith cs:Griffith Griffith Griffith Griffith Category:Neo Band of the Hawk Category:Mercenaries Category:Nobles Category:Swordsmen Category:Antagonists Category:God Hand Category:Featured Articles Category:Amputees Category:Apostle Category:Knights Category:Main Antagonists Category:Living Characters Category:Supernatural Characters Category:Black Swordsman Characters Category:Golden Age Characters Category:Conviction Characters Category:Falcon of the Millennium Empire Characters Category:Fantasia Characters